Photo by Element5 Digital on Unsplash

By Karen Spangler, Policy Director, and Erika Rincon, Program and Policy Assistant

Whether you’re a farmer, food bank or school serving meals to-go during the COVID-19 pandemic, the last mile is frequently the hardest equation to solve. It’s one that the USDA “Farmers to Families” program has aimed to cover, with $3 billion in contracts with vendors to provide nonprofits with “truck to trunk” food distribution. But as food banks and other community organizations apply for deliveries from the approved vendors, that last mile – getting the delivered food into the hands of the hungry – is turning out to be a considerable barrier. The CEO at the Food Bank of the Rockies says that distributing food donated through the Farmers to Families program is costing $40,000 per month just for transportation. Since May 15, the San Antonio Food Bank has spent more than $83,000 to store and distribute the food they’ve received from an event company that was awarded the USDA contract for the region.

Like food banks, schools all over the country have drastically altered how they feed kids during this pandemic, pivoting to outdoor distribution, grab-and-go pre-packaged food and social distancing in their kitchens. But the last mile for students – between food distribution sites and their front doors –  can be the hardest. In the first few weeks of distribution this spring, some schools saw only a fraction of their usual free and reduced-price eligible students showing up to collect meals, sometimes attributing this to lack of transportation. So some schools mobilized their dormant fleet of school buses and drivers to deliver meals to distribution locations throughout their districts.

For low-income families who rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or who have received Pandemic EBT (P-EBT) to feed their kids while school meals are unavailable, the expansion of online EBT purchases offers the potential to make purchases without risking exposure. However, in most states this expedited pilot includes only a few big retailers, leaving out local and regional producers who could serve this market. Moreover, online EBT customers do not have the option for pickup in many states, but delivery fees can’t be covered by SNAP or P-EBT funds (which must be used only for food). Immediate measures to help smaller retailers deliver during the pandemic, as well as long-term solutions to make sure all eligible retailers can accept online SNAP, have been proposed in Congress but not yet passed.  

For those who are able to stay home, delivery services spare customers exposure from going into grocery stores with long lines or tight spaces. But the increasing reliance on convenient delivery means that the last mile – from the warehouse, grocery store, or restaurant – is served by workers who are risking exposure.

Food banks and local food pantries also face their own challenges in the last mile, the miles that patrons have to travel to access these distribution sites. A recent survey by Feeding America, the nation’s largest network of food banks, reported that 40% of clients are getting help from a food bank for the first time. For these new customers, first identifying and then traveling to a distribution location can be challenging, especially when avoiding public transportation. Some food banks have undertaken mapping projects to link customers with resources and help them find out what’s available in their area.

Farmers who relied on institutional sales to restaurants or schools have been left with a surplus in their fields, but for them, the last mile to the food bank is expensive and time-consuming. The cost of harvest, transportation, and navigating the patchwork of operating hours of local food pantries – often narrow windows of time, constrained by volunteers (many of whom are elderly at at high-risk) and a lack of storage capability at the distribution site – means extra difficulty in getting excess produce to its destination. New York state is trying to solve this problem through $5,000 refundable tax credits to farmers for donating crops, and $25 million in funds for food banks to buy from local and regional producers and invest in storage capacity. This approach is faster, more flexible, and more cost-effective than the federal Farmers to Families approach.

The “last mile” is often an afterthought in government programs, as evidenced by the Farmers to Families dilemma. COVID-19 has given us the opportunity to evaluate our supply chain and the security of our food system. During and after this public health crisis, public investments should increase the capacity of local and regional food systems to bridge that last mile.

By National Farm to School Network and Urban School Food Alliance

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the important role schools play in our food systems, as a source of food for students, an employer of essential food service workers and a market for food producers. The pandemic also exposed the deep, pervasive inequities in our food system, including the devastating impacts COVID-19 had on those historically underserved.

Our food system is permeated with troubling disparities. Even before the pandemic, access to healthy food has been a challenge most pronounced for people of color who live in low-income communities. And since the onset of the pandemic, a survey has found that nearly 41 percent of mothers with children ages 12 and under reported household food insecurity.

Food system workers, who represent 1 in 5 essential workers, are predominantly people of color who often earn less than a living wage, and have been dying at higher rates from COVID-19 due to prevalence of underlying health conditions. Concerns exist that farmers of color, who make up less than 4 percent of the nation’s producers, are being overlooked in the US Department of Agriculture’s Coronavirus Food Assistance Program. Combined, these inequities in our food system span urban, suburban and rural communities, the direct result of inequitable and inefficient policies and practices as old as our nation itself.

When, in March, nearly all 100,000 schools across the country closed their doors, there were herculean efforts to ensure that school children – nearly 75 percent of whom receive free or reduced price meals – continued to have access to food. Ensuring every child is fed must be part of our work to rebuild the food system. As conversations turn towards “what’s next” in responding to the pandemic, we have a tremendous opportunity to change our food system and ensure that every person along the supply chain – from grower to eater, is treated justly. To recover from the present health and economic crisis, we must relook at the critical role food plays in health, equity and prosperity in our communities.

Many approaches will be needed to do this work, and we’ve been heartened to see multiple ideas already shared. There is one approach we think deserves more attention: school cafeterias can be a major propeller of this urgent, needed change in how we eat. Here’s how:

School cafeterias are our nation’s largest restaurant chain. When school is in session, cafeterias feed 30 million hungry mouths each day. More than 7 billion meals are served annually through the National School Lunch Program and National School Breakfast Program and more than $18.2 billion invested in these programs annually. With schools everywhere, focusing on school food supply chains means focusing on food in every community.

School meal funding recirculates in local communities. The collective purchasing power of school food service provides an opportunity to invest in local communities – both in the food purchased for meals, and in providing stable workforce opportunities. According to the 2015 USDA Farm to School Census, schools spent nearly $800 million annually on local food purchases, and more than 42 percent of schools report engaging in farm to school opportunities. Every dollar invested in farm to school efforts stimulates an additional $0.60-$2.16 of local economic activity.

School meal infrastructure helps make communities adaptable during a crisis. During this pandemic, many schools have taken on the role of feeding entire communities. The existing infrastructure of school meals and the experience and ingenuity of school nutrition professionals has allowed them to meet this critical need. Furthermore, schools’ existing relationships with farmers have shown resilience during this crisis: a School Nutrition Association survey found that nearly a quarter of schools are supporting local agriculture and serving local foods in their emergency feeding programs. Simultaneously, we’re seeing support of local food systems continue to rise during this pandemic.

School meals are an investment in the future. This pandemic shows we are capable of cooperation and rapid change, and it is important this continues. Every community deserves a strong and just local food system and we must continue to leverage our collective energy for equitable change as we rebuild by seeking opportunities for collaboration and action amongst schools, growers, producers, governmental agencies and community advocates. Investing in school meals is smart and a proven strategy for whole-community health, economic stimulus and resilience. School meals must be part of the conversation as we talk about the future.

Learn more at www.farmtoschool.org and www.urbanschoolfoodalliance.org.

By Karen Spangler, Policy Director

On July 9, the House Appropriations Committee advanced its agricultural spending bill for Fiscal Year 2021. The package provides $12 million in funding for the USDA Farm to School Grant Program, a discretionary bump of $7 million above the annual mandatory $5 million level. In addition, it allocates discretionary funding for school kitchen equipment grants, outreach to socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers, the Local Agriculture Market Program (LAMP), and the Food Safety Outreach Program. This is a huge win for farm to school, and follows USDA’s recent announcement of a record 159 Farm to School Grant awards, made possible by the additional funding secured by our Congressional champions through appropriations bills for fiscal years 2018 and 2019. The Senate is currently working on its own set of FY2021 spending priorities, which it must negotiate with the House before passing a final spending bill for the President’s signature. After those steps, this increased funding for farm to school will be official.

Of course, farm to school activities can’t take place without the strong foundations of a viable local and regional food system, school meal programs and CACFP sites that actually have the resources to invest in farm to school, and educators who are supported in using farm to school activities with kids. We’re pleased to have such strong champions in House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, including Chair Sanford Bishop (D-GA) and Ranking Member Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE), who help make possible this important additional support. But to make the most of this future funding, we must address the immediate needs of stakeholders across the farm to school community that need relief now, and that will need support to rebuild in the years to come.

That’s why National Farm to School Network was pleased to endorse the Local FARMS Act, introduced July 2 by Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ). This bill would waive the non-federal match required for USDA Farm to School Grants, covering 100% of project costs instead of the current 75%. As state and local budgets are squeezed in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, finding scarce matching funds will no longer be a barrier to accessing these grants. The Local FARMs Act would also support local food systems as producers rebuild, in particular directing 50% of bonus Specialty Crop Block Grants to purchase crops from women, veterans, and people of color.

School meal programs and early care and education providers who participate in CACFP have borne the responsibility of transforming their operations to continue feeding kids, even as reduced reimbursements from federal programs put programs in the red at a median level of $200,000. The HEROES Act, passed by the House in May, contains two provisions that would help somewhat, offering funding to cover some operational costs and make up for declining reimbursements. But as the uncertainty and burdens of the COVID-19 crisis drag on, more groups are looking to universal free meals in the 2020-2021 school year, including the School Nutrition Association, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and a new joint campaign, School Lunch for All, led by Urban School Food Alliance and Student Voice. Universal free meals would not only help ensure health and educational equity for low-income children, but would also allow school nutrition staff to focus on nourishing kids rather than worry about reimbursement paperwork in the midst of a crisis. National Farm to School Network is supportive of these calls for universal free meals, and urges that any new policies to emerge be rooted in racial equity and justice.

What’s next? Senate leaders face growing pressure to take action and pass more COVID relief legislation as the costs and uncertainty of this pandemic drag on. The good news is that there’s still time to shape what’s in this package - including many of the policy needs cited here in this post.

You can take action by:
1) Signing NFSN’s COVID-19 platform on federal policy response.

2) Urging your Senators to support the Local FARMS Act.

3) Telling your Senators that relief for school meal programs and CACFP sites must be part of any new legislation. (Need support reaching out to your Senator? Just let us know!)

4) Joining forces with groups pushing for immediate universal free school meals in the 2020-2021 school year.

This post is part of National Farm to School Network's new series of interviews with members of our Advisory Board about the impacts, challenges and opportunities that COVID-19 has brought about for the farm to school movement.

Name: Bertrand Weber
Title: Director, Culinary and Wellness Services
Organization: Minneapolis Public Schools
Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota
First-year on the National Farm to School Network Advisory Board.

Betrand Weber joined Lacy Stephens, NFSN Senior Program Manager, to share insights on how the COVID-19 emergency has impacted school nutrition programs, what it has revealed about our food system, and how nutrition programs and communities have responded in the short term and are preparing for long term change.

“At its core value, from the beginning, farm to school was about making a connection

back to the food system for our students, providing our students with the best quality

food, reducing carbon footprint, and increasing local economies and sustainability,

those are still all there, none of that has gone away. We will have to adapt on how we

provide that to our customers, but at its core, that is still there and still a value we need to continue.”

– Bertrand Weber

Listen to the full podcast here:

Nat'l Farm to School Network · An Interview with Bertrand Weber

By Noah Cohen-Cline – Lead Program Officer, Food Initiative, The Rockefeller Foundation – and Helen Dombalis – Executive Director, National Farm to School Network

This blog originally appeared on The Rockefeller Foundation’s website.

Photo courtesy of Joan Edman, via TIME.

This week—July 6, 2020—marks the four-year anniversary of the police killing of Philando Castile, only a few miles from where George Floyd was killed in Minnesota, during a traffic stop on his drive home from the grocery store with his girlfriend and her young daughter. Philando was many things to many people; in a statement by his family, he was remembered as “an amazing mentor, supporter, friend, son, brother, and Man.”

And to hundreds of children at a small elementary school in St. Paul, he was “Mr. Phil,” the kind and devoted cafeteria supervisor who handed out meals and made sure that kids had the food they needed to thrive. According to his obituary and to reporting at the time, Philando loved his job, loved the children he served, and often paid for the lunches of students who could not afford them.

Philando—like so many other Black people who have died at the hands of police violence recently and throughout our country’s history—was a victim of institutional racism. Because Philando was a school nutrition professional, we also remember him as a champion of racial justice—because school food programs, and the thousands of workers who make them run, are a bedrock of equity in our food system.

We knew before the Covid-19 pandemic and the recent Black Lives Matter protests that our food system is rife with racial inequities and that the current public health crisis has only exacerbated them. Our nation’s economy and our agricultural system are built on a foundation of racism and exploitation. Beginning with the theft of indigenous land from Native people and then the enslavement and forced labor of Africans to build our country’s wealth, the way we grow and produce food and get it from farm to table—both historically and today still—relies heavily on the underpaid and undervalued labor of Black, Latinx, and Native American communities. These inequities in our food system contribute to economic and health inequalities: the same people that provide labor in our food system often can’t afford nourishing food for themselves and their families. As a result, Black, Latinx, and Native American communities are significantly more likely to face hunger and food insecurity than White individuals, and to suffer from diet-related diseases like diabetes.

School food programs play a central role in addressing this injustice. By serving 30 million children every day—22 million of whom qualify for subsidized meals based on family income—school meal and child nutrition programs are delivering critical nourishment to the children who have been most underserved by our economic and food systems’ structural racism. School food alone cannot dismantle systemic racism, nor can any food access program. But schools can play a critical role by providing the nourishment that all children, of every race and ethnicity, need to grow, learn, and thrive.

In addition to providing equitable food access, many school food directors are finding innovative ways to use their programs to drive equity and sustainability in the broader food system. Good Food Purchasing Programs in places like Los Angeles, Chicago, and many other cities are using the collective market power of their school food budgets—totaling $18 billion nationally—to advance racial and social equity on farms and in food businesses and communities. National Farm to School Network’s early advocacy efforts for values-based universal meals—and the team of organizations and schools supporting this model—show promise for a national shift in how we spend our resources, and serve our children, to become a system rooted in racial equity and justice instead of the opposite.

School food heroes show up every day, motivated by the needs of the children they serve. They work tirelessly—often for unreasonably low wages and with limited training and subpar equipment—to serve our children nourishing meals. They’re serving balanced, nutritious meals on unrealistically tight budgets, and they have met the challenges of the global pandemic with innovation and devotion. They do this because they believe every child, everywhere, deserves to eat well and thrive.

Philando Castile was one of these heroes. As we remember his life and honor his legacy, let us also recognize and support school food programs and school nutrition professionals as the essential drivers of racial justice that they are.

View the original blog, posted on The Rockefeller Foundation’s website, here.

By Jenileigh Harris, Program Associate

National Farm to School Network in partnership with Scotts Miracle-Gro Foundation and collaboration with KidsGardening is excited to release Exploring Hydroponics: A Classroom Lesson Guide. This lesson guide is the product of the Gro More Good Hydroponics Pilot Project and includes basic how-to information for growing plants hydroponically in the classroom, lesson plans to help students learn through hands-on investigations, construction plans for simple hydroponic setups, and additional reference materials to support educators. The lessons are designed to align with third through fifth grade Next Generation Science Standards but can be adapted for both younger and older students and those with different abilities. The lessons are sequenced so that each topic builds upon the previous topics but the activities can also be used independently, in any order.

The Gro More Good Hydroponics Pilot Project, launched in the fall of 2019, was aimed at integrating indoor hydroponics growing systems into systemically under resourced schools across the country. National Farm to School Network supported hydroponics experts, KidsGardening, in developing the curriculum guide, Exploring Hydroponics: A Classroom Lesson Guide. During the 2019-2020 school year, the curriculum was used in conjunction with Scotts Miracle-Gro’s AeroGarden hydroponic kits in 15 schools across California, New York and Washington D.C. In addition to introducing hydroponics into their science, technology engineering and math (STEM) classrooms, pilot schools participated in peer learning and networking calls to share successes and challenges with each other.

“The grow station is the shining light in an amazing space. It draws visitors to it and opens up conversation about what we do at FoodPrints and Kimball. The students love to talk about it. Thank you for letting us participate!” -Kimball Elementary School, Washington, D.C.

Between the 2018-2019 and the 2019-2020 school year, there was an overall increase in both engagement of students in garden-based activities as well as the total number of students reached by gardening or farm to school activities that align with Next Generation Standards as a direct result of the hydroponics system and curriculum.

By March 2020, a total of 2204 students were reached through the pilot project with gardening or farm to school activities that align with Next Generation Science Standards across New York, Washington D.C., and California, and 1954 students were directly engaged in lessons or activities using the hydroponics growing system. Additionally, between September 2019 and March 2020, there was a perceived 20% increase in student interest and a 15% increase in adult interest (teachers, administration, teaching aides, community members) in gardening as a direct result of the hydroponics system and Exploring Hydroponics curriculum.

“The Exploring Hydroponics guide has really been a huge asset to our science curriculum.” -Amidon-Bowen Elementary, Washington, D.C.

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Pilot schools cited many observed benefits and positive outcomes due to the hydroponics curriculum and growing systems for students, families and adults in their respective school communities. These include:

Benefits for Students Benefits for Students, Families, Educators and Community Members

• Interest and knowledge of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) concepts
• Increased demonstration of social-emotional development (e.g., cooperation, empathy, self-regulation)
• Access to fresh fruits and vegetables
• Increased engagement
• Improved attitudes, knowledge and behaviors
• Improved knowledge about gardening, agriculture and food systems

When schools began closing in March, some pilot schools were able to pivot and continue hydroponics and gardening learning at home. At Kimball Elementary, the FoodPrints teacher has encouraged kids to find bean or vegetable seeds, wrap them in damp paper towels, insert into a plastic bag, tape to a window with lots of sunlight and observe daily for germination. At other schools, teachers were able to take the hydroponics units home and update students remotely through online meetings and photos. The Exploring Hydroponics guide offers many remote-adaptable lessons and at-home opportunities including how to build an aeration system at home, map your meals explorations, exploring land use worksheets, discussion questions and digging deeper videos.

“I documented the plants before we left school, transplanted them with students into soil and we are studying how they are growing at home now via live meetings and pictures. Students have been engaged in a "regrow" vegetables from scratch lesson, and have shared amazing results of starting vegetables in water with scraps they normally would've thrown out.” –P.S. 32, The Belmont School, Bronx, NYNational Farm to School Network and Scotts Miracle-Gro Foundation learned a lot from the schools as they piloted and adapted the Exploring Hydroponics curriculum, troubleshooted the AeroGarden grow kit, and brought the hydroponics learning experience to life for their students. By all measures, the Gro More Good Hydroponics Pilot Project has been a success: there was an overall increase in student and family engagement in gardening and farm to school activities as a direct result of the hydroponics growing system and curriculum. While the benefits and positive outcomes are substantial, opportunities for growth have also emerged:

Strategies for better curriculum integration of opportunities to encourage at-home hydroponics and gardening

• Adapting curriculum for younger ages
• More opportunities to support sustained implementation (e.g., to purchase pods and other necessary resources)
• Incorporating more multimedia tools or approaches within curriculum (e.g., instructional video)
• Collecting and disaggregating data based on race and income (e.g., which students are more likely to have access to gardening at home?)
• More opportunities to engage families

National Farm to School Network and Scotts Miracle-Gro Foundation are excited to see how schools continue to use their hydroponic curriculum and systems in the upcoming school year, whatever that may look like, and beyond. We know students increased their understanding of where their food comes from, the environmental impacts of growing food in soil versus water, their access to fresh produce, and we can’t wait to see these benefits grow.

Congratulations to the newest USDA Farm to School Grant Program recipients! USDA announced on Monday that a record-breaking 159 projects in 46 states, the District of Columbia and Guam have been awarded farm to school grants to explore, expand or scale up their farm to school activities. The 2020 awards total $12.1 million, and will impact 2.5 million students in 7,610 schools.

Twenty-six National Farm to School Network Core and Supporting Partner organizations have been selected for 2020 grants, including:

Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries
Alaska Department of Education & Early Development
Arizona Department of Education
Community Alliance with Family Farmers
Guidestone Colorado
The Office of the State Superintendent of Education
Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
Georgia Department of Education
Indiana State Department of Health
Kansas State Department of Education
Third Sector New England
Michigan Department of Education
Minnesota Department of Agriculture
Nebraska Department of Education
Nevada Department of Agriculture
New Hampshire Department of Education
New Mexico Department of Public Education
Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project
Oklahoma State Department of Education
Pennsylvania Department of Education
The Food Trust
South Carolina Department of Agriculture
Vermont Agency of Agriculture Food & Markets
Virginia Department of Education
Washington State Department of Agriculture
West Virginia Department of Agriculture

Additionally, we’re thrilled to see that Hardin Public School District 17 H & 1– a former National Farm to School Network Seed Change Cohort Member, a current representative on our Native Communities Advisory Council, and one of the schools featured last year as a Native Farm to School Champion in our partnership with the Intertribal Agriculture Council – has received an Implementation grant to develop a traditional foods curriculum and build a high tunnel and greenhouse on school grounds.

New this year, USDA has also awarded two Regional Farm to Institution Grants. First Nations Development Institute, serving tribal communities in the Midwest, and Shelburne Farms, serving school districts in the Northeast, have been awarded grants to develop and deliver farm to school training, create and disseminate information on developing farm to school programs, and provide ongoing coaching and technical assistance to farm to school practitioners in their regions.

National Farm to School Network was a key leader in advocating for the creation of the USDA Farm to School Grant program, as well as advocating for additional funding for the program through appropriations bills for fiscal years 2018 and 2019 – which have allowed this year’s grants to be as substantial as they are. We know that the program is an essential tool for improving the health of our children, our food system and our local economies. And as the COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts continue to be a reality in our country, these benefits of farm to school are more important than ever. Congratulations, again, to the 2020 grantees – we look forward to watching your farm to school projects grow!

This post is part of National Farm to School Network's new series of interviews with members of our Advisory Board about the impacts, challenges and opportunities that COVID-19 has brought about for the farm to school movement.

Name: Anneliese Tanner
Title: Executive Director, Food Service and Warehouse Operations at Austin Independent School District
Organization: Austin Independent School District
Location: Austin, Texas
First-year on the National Farm to School Network Advisory Board

Scott Bunn, NFSN Development Director, sat down with Anneliese for a conversation about how the COVID-19 emergency has impacted her work, the challenges and innovations she’s seen, and what all of this means for the future of farm to school and our food system.

“My biggest hope as a silver lining to emerge from this is universal meals for all students. We have really seen as a nation that school food service is incredibly important for feeding all students, not just those most in need. We’ve seen economic conditions quickly take hold in parts of town that you wouldn’t have guessed before.” – Anneliese Tanner

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Listen to the full podcast here:

Nat'l Farm to School Network · An Interview with Anneliese Tanner‍